Tobacco press



July 17, 1928.

T. MILLER ToBAcco PRESS Filed April 11, 1927 2f Patented July 17, 1928.v f

UNITED STATES THOMAS MILLER', or BnooxsvILLn' xnN'riicxY.

` "roBVAoco, rimes;

Applicatoniiled lApril 1 1,v 1927. Seria1=No. 182,591.

My invention relatesto certain new and useful improvements in tobacco presses, and has for one object to provide a simple, cheap, yet efficient 'and durable. press in 5 which tobacco may be quickly and easily vof the way of the reloading ofthe press.

Another object is to provide such a press adapted to be positionedy in a novel manner upon the wall of the baling shed whereby to greatly facilitatethe loading of the press being 'shownin section.

and the removalv therefrom of the package after being baled. i

Another object isl to provide a means 'r whereby the presser board Vmay be readily adapted to maintainl a p arallelA relation with the back of the press, thereby facilitating the pressing operation.

Another object -is to provide aA means whereby 'the presser `board may y,be freely released Vafter vthe pressing operation, as

bythe simple operationfof a lever.A

Another object is to .provide a means whereby the sticks of tobacco to be pressed may be readily inserted into the pressland readily Aremoved therefrom.

Another object v is to provide a-fmeans whereby the bottom gate of the press may be readily and easily adjusted to suit the height of the package soas to preventthe dryingout of the tobacco.

' TWith the above and other objects'rin' view, my invention consists in the combination: and arrangement'of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and lmore fully illustrated inthe preferred embodiment shownV in the accompanying drawings, `wherein Figure 1--1s aside elevation of my device with the presser board raised.

' Figure 2 is a bottom view off-Figure 1.'

Figure 3 is a side elevation of my devlce with the presser board lowered and pressingV a package of tobacco, parts of the device notches 255 pivoted in a `rand on theinslde of each o ltlie side boardsy top plan ofthel t v e, Gfatlthefupper ends arthar' the back,

y,Referring nowvmore particularly lto the draw1ngs,iI-provide a press composed'of side gboards 5, 6,'positioned in spaced yand` parallel relation as bythe bottom board' 7, :and cross piece 8. The back face 9`of'the`side boards 5 and 6 is 4formed at an angleto the vfront face10 thereof; the back board 11 is positioned inf-parallel 'relation -to the :said front face 10;'bythe arrangement described the device is adapted to be mounted on: the wall of `thebale shed (not shown) so that any tobacco placedin the press'willvhave spaced .and parallel `'relation tov the' bottom board 7 and frontfacelO of the side boards 5, y6, and extends fromside` board-to side board. A-flexible apro-n 12 is slidably posi- `tionedv between the' said bottom board 7 Aand .the back board-111, as by .guide Aslots 13 provided in the side boards 5', 6the said guide slots 13 also extending outfromunder they said' back. board 11 and .thence right anguyl'arlv extendingto they front face 10 of the side-boards; The'sideboards 5, y6 each have a feed slot Mat the upper end of thevboard, the said feed slot being formed with divergfing walls, of which the lower wall, yas at 15,

A the front face j10 aforesaid, from a=point oppositely the saidback board 1.1 to a point -near lthe front 'face 10 of the-side boards.

'The presser board 19 4is provided with spacedvand parallel handles 20 extending Abeyond'both ends oflthepresser board. One

endof each ofltherhandles 20 ,is formed into a-latch or pawl y22 and is mountedon a rod 21 adapted @to slidably engage the said -presserboardjslot 18inthelside boards 5,

6. The otherend. of-.therhandle QOi'sfformed Awith a hand grip 23,-and between the hand ygrip andthe presser board Vthe handle is uformed'fintoa longitudinally extending triangularpawl 24. The presser board is adapt- -ed to itin betweenthe side boardsI 5,6, as shown l-inflii'ureZ bar' 25 :having-y a pluralitywof A- latch lane parallel to .aytendency-to lay against the back board.

Thesaid back-board l11 is positioned in vpivoted to the side board as at thereof, and is so shaped as to be co-extensive with the presser board slot 18, The said latch bars by reason of their weight, are adapted to be urged against the pawls 22 of the handles 2O which are constructed so as to be positioned oppositely the latch bars, whereby the said notches are adapted to engage the said pawls. An arm 27 is provided on the back sideof each of the latch bars iiexible elements or chains 28 each have one end pivoted to one of the arms 27, and the other end pivoted to cranks 29 mounted on the transverse shaft 30 journaled in the side boards 5, 6.' One end of the said shaft 30 extends through and outwardly the side board 5 andhas a crank 81 mounted thereon and pivoted to an -articulated handle 32 One end of the handle 32 is provided with a handy grip 34; the other end is articulated as by a pin 35 and angularly disposed andv coacting faces B6, whereby one part of the handle is adapted to act as a crank, and the other as a link, such that rotation ot the tato the shaft 30 as by the crank 31.

A latch bar 39y having` a plurality of notches 40 is pivoted in transverse relation to and on the bottom face 41 of each of theV side `boards 5, 6, and near the back portion y thereof and adapted to extend substantially the depth of the press.

A portion of the bottom board `7 is extended downwardly as a-t so as to form guides 88 for the vlatcli bars 89. Normallythe said latch bars 39 are adapted to be positioned so as to have the said notches 4() engage the said pawls 24 as by a spring 42 mounted on each end of the cross piece 8 and bearing against the 'outside of eachof the latch bars 39. An

arm 43 on the end of each of the latch bars 39 is pivoted to a slotted link 44 slidably vpivoted to an equalizing bar 45 pivotedv as by a link 46 to a crank 47 mounted medially the shaft 80.

1n use, the device being in the position y shown in Figure 3, the articulated handle 32 is thrown into the position shown in Figure 1, whereby the shaft 30 is rotated vso as to cause the cranks 29 to pull on the chains 28 whereby the latch rbar 26 is lifted against its weight out of engagement with swung` upwardly about the rod 21 and slidbackwardly guided by the slot 18 so as to be substantially out of the way, as shown in Figure 1. The presser board is locked in this position as by a latch shown in Fig ure 4, and comprising two spring set and rotating it against the action of the spring v V50, so that the handle 20 and the presser board 19 may slip past the pointed nose 51 of the pawl 48, whereupon the handle 20 will furthermore engage the spring set pawl 49 as by the flat nose 52 thereof, which acts as by a frictional engagement of the pawl 49 with the handle 20v so as to assist the pawl 48 to hold the presser board 19 up, against its weight, out of the way of the operator, who is now able to remove the pressed package as at 17 vfrom the press. If desired, the flexible gate 12may then be pushed `under the back board 11, and the device will then appear as in Figure 1, and

Figure 2. l `handle 32 aboutv the pivot point 38 will ro- The operator then takes fresh bundles of tobacco, and 'slides the sticks 16 vthereof into the slot 14, letting the sticks rest on the face 15 of the slot. He then moves the articulated handle to the positionfshown in Figure 8, thereupon releasing the latch bars 25 so that they are free to fall oftheir own weight against the pawls 22 of the handles 2O when the presser board 19 is moved by the operator into the position indicated generally in Figure 3 and adapted to press the tobacco as by the operator grasping the hand grips 23, At the same time, the latch bars 39are also released so that they are urged as by the springs 42 to engage the pawls 24 of the handles 2O as the operator brings the presser board intov engagement with the tobacco, as

described. As the tobaccois being pressed.,`

the operator draws the Yflexible gate 12 out from under the backl board 11` so as to close up the space between the back board and the presser board, and as the pressing proceeds, thefpresser board is caused to move progressively towards the back boardas by the pawls 22 and 24 successively engaging the latch bars y25 and 39, respectively, the flexible gate always adapt-ing itself to the diminished size of theopening between the back hoard and the presserlboard, whereby the tobacco ispievented from drying out.

I claim: l

1. A press of thev character described, comprising a iixedback board, side boards mounted on the back board, said side` boards having transversely extending corresponding slots at one end thereof, a transverse bar slidably engaging said slots, a presser board llt) lli)

mounted on said bar, said presser board be` ing-adapted to co-operatively engage said side boards and said back hoard, and means ttor adjustably positioning said presser board with relation to said back board, for the purposes described. f 2. A press of the character described,

comprising a fixed back board, side boardsv y engaging vsaid presser board, a transverse shaft journaled in said side boards, a crank on each end of said shaft, flexible element-s each haviiigone end pivoted to one of the latch bars, and the other end pivoted to one of said cranks, and means for rotating said shaft.

3. A press of the character described, comprising a fixed back board, side boards mounted on the back board, said side boards having transversely extending correspond' ing slots at one end thereof, a transverse bar slidably engaging said slots, a presser board mounted on said bar, said presser' board bef ing adapted to co-operatively engage said side boards and said backboard,'upper and lower latch bars pivoted to said side boards an operatively engaging said presser board, a transverse shaft journaled in said side boards, end cranks mounted at each end of said shaft, fiexible elements each having one pivoted to one of the upper latch bars, and the other end pivoted to one of said end cranks, a middle crank mounted medially of said shaft, an equalizing bar linked to said middle crank, slotted links each having one end slidably engaging said equalizing bar and the other end pivoted to one of the lower latch bars, an operating crank mounted on said shaft, andan articulated lever pivoted to one of said side boards and pivotally connected to said operating crank.

4. Ina to'bacco press having side boards, a back board connecting the side boards, and a movable presser board operatively engaging the side boards for movement relative to the back board, means for guiding the said presser boardy comprising said side boards having transversely extending corresponding slots at one end thereof, and a transverse bar slidably engaging said'slots and mounted on said presser board.

5. In a tobacco press having side boards, a back board connecting the side boards, a movable presser board operatively engaging the side boards for movementrelative to the back board, and upper and lower latch bars pivoted to the side boards and releasably engaging said presser board, means for y simultaneously releasing said latch bars from engagement with said presser board, said means comprising a transverse shaft journaled in said side boards, end cranks mounted at each'end of said shaft, flexible elements each having one end pivoted to one of the upper latch bars, and the other end pivoted to one of said end cranks, a middle crank mounted medially of said shaft, an

equalizing bar linked to said middle crank, I

slotted. links each having one end slidably engaging said equalizing bar and the other` end pivoted to one of the lower latch bars, an operating crank mounted on saidshaft. and an articulated leverpivoted to one of said side boards and pivotally connected to said operating crank.

6. A tobacco press having a back board, a presser board movablev relatively to the back board, latch bars releasably engaging opposite ends of they presser board, and I means for simultaneously releasing said latch bars from engagement with saidV presser board. y

7. A tobacco press having a back board,

side boards mounted on the back board, a

presser board movable relatively to the back]- board, said side boards having transversely extending corresponding' slots at one end thereof, a transverse bar slidably engaging said slots and mounted on said presser board, upper and lower latchv bars releasably engaging opposite ends of the presser board, and means for simultaneously releasing said latch'r bars from engagement with said presser board.

In testimony lwhereof I afi-ix my signature.

THOMAS,v MILLER. 

